RE:RE:Stella Third Well Spud Date - 14 March 2014 As i understand it, completing the second two production wells by August would have enabled installation of the production pipelines etc from these two wells to the Northern Drill Centre Manifold to be completed in late summer prior to the arrival of FPF-1, currently scheduled for 01 October according to the latest update given by the company in the most recent Seafish bulletin.
Assuming the two Northern wells take the same time to drill as the first two wells (6 months 3 weeks), then the fourth well will now likely complete in early October - suggesting the sub sea production pipeline installation work from these two wells to the NDC Manifold will not begin until early/mid Oct, when the North Sea weather and sea conditions are much more challenging for carrying sub sea work.
Yes, it may still be technically possible to see first oil before year end, if everything goes to plan and the weather/sea conditions remain relatively benign during the last three months of the year, but i am now pencilling in Q1 2015, as sea conditions in the Northern North Sea in late Autumn/Winter can often seriously delay/halt sub sea installation work on safety grounds - as evidenced by many operators(like Ithaca this year) usually halting this type of work during the winter months.
Regardless, the Company advised they will be providing a progress update on Stella within the month end results RNS. Let's see what they have to say.
As a result of the delay spudding the third well, what we do know is the drilling of the four Stella wells will now likely take 2-3 months longer than were originally budgeted for, so there may be a $10-15m cost overrun there for us to absorb.